General Electric To Supply Wind Turbines For 845 Megawatt Project In Oregon

Locations of existing and planned large wind farms in Oregon. Image credit:OregonLive Blog

GE's US$1.4 billion contract will be for wind turbines installated at Shepherds Flat in the US State of Oregon (as shown on map above). Per the Business Newswire press release: "When completed it will be larger than any wind farm currently in operation around the globe." GE already reports it has sold 12,000 wind turbines, worldwide, a total that will increase by 338 from this project.

GE's business strategy in creating eco-imagination a few years back looks to be paying off at scale: this project providing further evidence that for the astute business, going green gets more 'green.' A lesson that many of those opposed to Federal climate action have not yet learned.

Stretching across 30 square miles of Gilliam and Morrow Counties in north-central Oregon, near the town of Arlington, the 845-megawatt Shepherds Flat project marks the US debut and largest single global order of GE's 2.5xl wind turbines. A total of 338 turbines will be installed in 2011 and 2012.

Permits are awaited. Here's payoff for the rest of us.

The project will provide enough clean energy to power approximately 235,000 average California households - according to US Environmental Protection Agency methodology - and will avoid more than 1.5 million tons a year in greenhouse gas emissions, compared to equivalent fossil fuel generation.